In one sick picture the one-year-old tot can be seen crawling on a concrete floor, with a white lead around its neck, eating from a plastic bowl.

The pictures – posted on Facebook – went viral after they were shared by disgusted viewers.

The twisted mother, from Bataan on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, was forced to hand herself to social authorities after being flooded with negative comments.

The baby is now being cared for by social workers.

"No one has the right to treat a child like a toy," said Corazon Juliano-Soliman, from the the Department of Social Welfare and Development

"Whoever does this can be punished under the law. Even if it was made in jest, it was done in bad taste.

"The child does not know that it is just a joke

"It is a clear case of child abuse and the perpetrator is liable under the Violence against Women and Children Act ."

SHOCKING: The pictures went viral on social media to the disgust of viewers [FACEBOOK]

“Initially I was infuriated and my blood was literally at boiling point. This cannot be tolerated”

Child abuse campaigner Lurleen Hilliard

Colleague Marilyn Tigas, chief of the department added: "They made fun of it. They thought there would be no reaction."

"Children are gifts to us and given protection." It has been reported the mother is a housewife, while the boy's father is a government worker and his grandmother is a former high school principal.

Child abuse campaigner Lurleen Hilliard, 46, was the one who alerted authorities about the horrifying images after stumbling across them online.

"Initially I was infuriated and my blood was literally at boiling point. This cannot be tolerated," said Hilliard, founder of global organisation Nolonger Victims.

"If we tolerate this level of abuse and parents think they can post these images online in order to boost their page or to make themselves look good then all we're doing is saying that we support, and we're enabling, child abuse."